Behavior problems in children with mild intellectual disabilities: an initial step towards prevention

To develop prevention activities, an analysis is conducted of child and parent characteristics that occur significantly more often among children with a mild intellectual disability and behavior problems than among children with a mild intellectual disability and no behavior problems and their families. The sample consisted of 45 children attending schools for special education. Data were collected from the children, their parents, and their teachers. The instruments used are the Dutch version of the Parenting Stress Index, the Nijmegen Child-Rearing Situation Questionnaire and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire for parents, teachers and children. On the basis of the results of parents on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, the research sample was divided into one group of children with behavior problems and one group without behavior problems. Parents of the children with behavior problems were found to feel less competent, more socially isolated, less satisfied about their relationship with their partner, and indicate more negative life occurrences than the parents of the children without behavior problems. Characteristics in the area of adaptability, mood, distractibility/hyperactivity, demandingness, reinforcement of parents, and acceptability were found to contribute to the total stress in the child-parent relationship for those children with behavior problems and their parents. On the basis of these results prevention activities will be developed and tested on their effectiveness.